Remembering 9/11

Similar to the Vietnam War Memorial, the 9/11 memorial is very minimalistic and detailed. The design was born through Michael Arad’s and Peter Walker’s entry into the worldwide World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. The principal parts of the memorial are the two square, shallow reflecting pools with a large square hole in the middle of both and the nation’s largest manmade waterfalls continuously running down all four sides. Furthermore, the placement of the pools is exactly where the burned-down Twin Towers were. As a whole, the reflecting pools display loss by occupying the old locations of the Twin Towers and placing a void in the middle. The architects used empty space to “include absence but to stand in the need of presence” (Booth 41).  On the sides, the fast-running waterfalls is another reminder of how rapidly the Twin Towers fell and lives can be changed. Its constant flow also demonstrates  how the grieving process and memories of the deceased is never-ending. Alongside nature, water drowns out the sound of the city, bringing peace into the area. Additionally, the pools’ reflections draw a connection between the visitors and their dead loved ones as well as provide a source for contemplation. Along the pools, there are the names of those who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and numerous 9/11 attacks inscribed in bronze panels. To elaborate, the people’s names were arranged by which attack they died in, who they were with when they died, and any others who they had a relationship with (requested by their loved ones). Additionally, both the reflecting pools and name panels are visible and protected from any type of weather through a lighting, heating, and cooling system. These implementations are not only practical but show how the fallen are protected and cared for constantly.

Surrounding the reflecting pools, there is an eco-friendly plaza with surrounding trees and an incorporated “suspended paving system” to help flourish their growth. This setting is a sharp contrast to the surrounding city with its tranquility but is nonetheless incorporated into the center by being adjacent to many green spaces like Battery Park. As a result, it provides a hopeful, contemplative space which allows the deceased to be honored and remembered with  their proximity to both serenity and the city they worked in. Specifically, a lot of swamp white oak trees line the plaza. They are durable and change into a multitude of colors throughout the year. Through their individuality, they represent the people, dead or alive, who have been affected by the terrorist attacks and are part of the memorial. Also, many of the trees of the memorial had originally been within a 500-mile radius of the World Trade Center and from other locations of the 9/11 attacks. One notable tree, which is integral to the memorial, is the “Survivor Tree”. It had endured the World Trade Center attacks and was rehabilitated back to a healthy tree that was placed in the memorial. Every year, it has been decided that the Survivor Tree’s seedlings are sent to three communities who have suffered through a tragedy recently. This specific tree represents the division between the damaged past and the reborn present through its survival and rebirth.

In conclusion, Arad and Walker provided a perfect space for recovery and reflection despite the limitations they had. The reflecting pools provide a space for visitors to remember and grieve while the surrounding nature is another contemplative place for recovery. As a person stands in between the two, he or she is between the past and future, reminded of absence and loss on one side of them and rehabilitation and resilience on the other.